My Personal Mold Story
Mystery Symptoms and Misdiagnosis
I was studying physics at SUNY-Binghamton, when I began suffering from terrible anxiety that went beyond typical academic stress. Soon afterward, I developed bouts of significant diarrhea and began losing weight. I was spending the majority of my time in the bathroom every day, and eventually developed pain in my right lower abdomen. These symptoms were more than uncomfortable; they were disruptive and alarming, leaving me feeling vulnerable and uncertain about my future.
When I sought medical help, I expected careful consideration and a meaningful investigation into why I felt so unwell.
Instead, I encountered a narrow focus on individual symptoms. The doctor barely listened to my story, lightly poked my belly, and immediately came to the conclusion that I was suffering from a case of acute appendicitis. He recommended that I go to the ER to get evaluated.
As I drove to the ER, I hoped that the ER doctor would be able to properly diagnose and treat the root cause of my symptoms. But once again, I was disappointed.
Despite my insistence that something deeper, more systemic, was at play, the ER doctor and the on-call general surgeon both came to the same conclusion—it was acute appendicitis and I needed emergency surgery!
Bear in mind, this was 1978, and at that time, acute appendicitis was considered a “clinical diagnosis.” In other words, if you had pain in your right lower quadrant, then you had appendicitis until proven otherwise. How was it proven? By taking out your appendix!
My Crohn’s Disease Diagnosis: An Incomplete Picture
Medical School
Unwilling to accept a lifetime of unresolved illness and unsatisfied with the prospect of continuing to take prescribed drugs that were not helping my symptoms, I searched for solutions beyond conventional medicine. I started training in martial arts, took a class in mind-body science, and started lifting weights and running. My health improved somewhat, but I still suffered from bouts of anxiety and diarrhea and at times had bad flare ups.
Then, during my third year at SUNY-Binghamton, I decided to go to medical school. My ongoing health issues, combined with my skepticism of traditional doctors were a big factor in my decision. I was excited about the prospects of developing an understanding of why I got sick, how my mental state affected my disease, and how I could learn to overcome this illness. Unfortunately, the medical school curriculum focused mostly on diagnosing diseases and treating them with medications or surgery. We were taught that most diseases were idiopathic—in other words, people got sick for unknown reasons or because diseases “run in their families,” or developed due to age or obesity. Diseases could be treated, but not truly cured.
Metabolically Directed Approaches
I struggled on and off with symptoms of Crohn’s disease for more than a decade after that. Sometimes, I felt fairly well. Other times I was plagued with anxiety, pain, and gastrointestinal issues. My symptoms seemed to come and go with no discernable pattern.
During these years, I worked full-time as an emergency physician which gave me time and resources to continue my quest to understand human health and disease.
I was highly motivated to keep learning and took courses in naturopathy, homeopathy, acupuncture, reiki, homotoxicology, and heavy metal toxicity. I read countless books on biochemistry, physiology, nutrition, Ayurveda, iridology, Chinese medicine, functional medicine and many alternative medicine perspectives. With each new avenue of learning, I developed a deeper understanding that the body’s systems are interconnected.
In 2004, I came across a method called metabolic therapy, which focuses on treating your biochemical individuality rather than your symptoms. When I began incorporating metabolically directed approaches into my own diet and lifestyle, my health improved dramatically. I had finally discovered one of the root causes of my illness: metabolic imbalances.
Could Biotoxin Exposure Be Causing Your Health Struggles?
The Role of Mold
With my health issues supposedly behind me, I opened my own clinic in 2007, dedicated to alternative, functional, and metabolic medicine. I helped many patients with their chronic health issues using this functional and metabolic approach, even those that had seen other integrative doctors. However, I noticed a pattern: there was a group of patients who improved with metabolic therapy, but never fully recovered, and they experienced periodic relapses.
In 2014, I learned about Dr. Ritchie Shoemaker’s work on mold, biotoxins, and chronic inflammatory response syndrome (CIRS). This was a turning point for me. He had discovered that mold—an often-overlooked environmental factor—could trigger persistent, unexplained symptoms, especially in individuals with certain genetic predispositions. When I began testing my patients for these specific genetic markers, a significant number were positive. Even though these genes appear in only 24% of the general population, roughly 75% of my patient base had them. Could mold illness be this common?
I decided to study Dr Shoemaker’s Surviving Mold protocols in late 2015 and completed my certification in March of 2016. After incorporating Dr Shoemaker’s approach—integrating it with my functional and metabolic medicine approach—my clinical results improved significantly. My life was good, my health was good.
My Mold Exposure: A Fuller Picture
However, in April of 2016—just one month after completing my certification—I was exposed to a large amount of mold in a barn on my property. I hoped nothing bad would happen, but something did. Three days later, I developed shingles and soon suffered a cascade of symptoms: heightened anxiety, poor sleep, difficulty concentrating, head and body aches, and elevated blood pressure. Although I could not find direct medical literature linking mold exposure to shingles, I knew that somehow there was a connection. I avoided going back to the barn. As time passed, my health worsened. My blood pressure, which had always been fairly low, suddenly shot up to 200/90.
What was causing this wide range of symptoms? In July of 2016—even though we did not see or smell anything unusual—it occurred to me that my house might be contaminated with mold.
We had our house tested by an indoor environmental professional (IEP), and they found mold throughout: in the basement, the HVAC system, the attic, even in front of our dishwasher and our front-loading washing machine.
We spent three months remediating our home. Once finished, my health improved dramatically. However, I realized other environments that I regularly spent time in were also affected: my office, my dentist’s office, my lawyer’s office, my accountant’s office, my car, some restaurants and even friends’ homes. It was at this point clear that I was hypersensitive to mold. Whenever I walked into these moldy spaces I would almost immediately feel tense, then anxious.
The situation forced me to move my office, begrudgingly replace my car, and find a new dentist. I started avoiding any space that triggered those feelings.
Identifying My Root Causes and Learning How to Heal
In retrospect, I now recognize that my longtime struggles with Crohn’s disease were caused by a combination of poor diet, mold exposure, and metabolic imbalances. Identifying and addressing these mold and biotoxins changed everything for me.
To bring my story up-to-date, my health has been excellent. I am keenly aware of moldy environments—if I walk into one, I will almost immediately feel anxious and remove myself from that space before other symptoms begin to manifest. I feel very fortunate that I was able to identify and resolve the hidden issues impacting my well-being.
I am very grateful for the wonderful teachers I’ve learned from over the years. They have allowed me to understand the root causes of my symptoms and diseases. In the process of learning how to heal myself—identifying metabolic imbalances, understanding mold/biotoxin illness, and embracing a functional and metabolic medicine approach—I’ve positioned myself to help many others regain their health and vitality. If you suspect mold illness or want to explore the root cause of your chronic symptoms, I am here to guide you. Together, we can work to restore your well-being.
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